3 Derivatives

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 Derivatives of Trigonometric
3.3 Functions

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions
In particular, it is important to remember that when we talk
about the function f defined for all real numbers x by

f (x) = sin x

it is understood that sin x means the sine of the angle

whose radian measure is x. A similar convention holds for
the other trigonometric functions cos, tan, csc, sec, and cot.

All of the trigonometric functions are continuous at every

number in their domains.

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Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions
If we sketch the graph of the function f (x) = sin x and use
the interpretation of f (x) as the slope of the tangent to the
sine curve in order to sketch the graph of f , then it looks as
if the graph of f  may be the same as the cosine curve.
(See Figure 1).

Figure 1
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Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions
Let’s try to confirm our guess that if f (x) = sin x, then
f (x) = cos x. From the definition of a derivative, we have

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Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions

Two of these four limits are easy to evaluate. Since we

regard x as a constant when computing a limit as h  0,
we have

and

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Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions
The limit of (sin h)/h is not so obvious. We made the guess,
on the basis of numerical and graphical evidence, that

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Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions
We now use a geometric argument to prove Equation 2.
Assume first that  lies between 0 and  /2. Figure 2(a)
shows a sector of a circle with center O, central angle ,
and radius 1.

BC is drawn perpendicular to OA.

By the definition of radian measure,
we have arc AB = .
Also | BC | = | OB | sin  = sin .
Figure 2(a)

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Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions
From the diagram we see that

| BC | < | AB | < arc AB

Therefore sin  <  so <1

Let the tangent lines at A and B

intersect at E. You can see from
Figure 2(b) that the circumference
of a circle is smaller than the
length of a circumscribed polygon,
and so arc AB < | AE | + | EB |.
Figure 2(b)

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Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions
Thus
 = arc AB < | AE | + | EB |
< | AE | + | ED |
= | AD | = | OA | tan 
= tan 

Therefore we have

so

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Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions
We know that lim 0 1 = 1 and lim 0 cos  = 1, so by the
Squeeze Theorem, we have

But the function (sin )/ is an even function, so its right

and left limits must be equal. Hence, we have

so we have proved Equation 2. 11

Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions
We can deduce the value of the remaining limit in as
follows:

(by Equation 2)

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Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions

If we now put the limits and in we get

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Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions
So we have proved the formula for the derivative of the sine
function:

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Example 1
Differentiate y = x2 sin x.

Solution:
Using the Product Rule and Formula 4, we have

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Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions
Using the same methods as in the proof of Formula 4, one
can prove that

The tangent function can also be differentiated by using the

definition of a derivative, but it is easier to use the Quotient
Rule together with Formulas 4 and 5:

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Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions

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Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions

The derivatives of the remaining trigonometric functions,

csc, sec, and cot, can also be found easily using the
Quotient Rule.

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Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions
We collect all the differentiation formulas for trigonometric
functions in the following table. Remember that they are
valid only when x is measured in radians.

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Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions

Trigonometric functions are often used in modeling

real-world phenomena. In particular, vibrations, waves,
elastic motions, and other quantities that vary in a periodic
manner can be described using trigonometric functions. In
the following example we discuss an instance of simple
harmonic motion.

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Example 3
An object at the end of a vertical spring is stretched 4 cm
beyond its rest position and released at time t = 0. (See
Figure 5 and note that the downward direction is positive.)
Its position at time t is

s = f (t) = 4 cos t

Find the velocity and acceleration

at time t and use them to analyze
the motion of the object. Figure 5

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Example 3 – Solution
The velocity and acceleration are

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Example 3 – Solution cont’d

The object oscillates from the lowest point (s = 4 cm) to the

highest point (s = –4 cm). The period of the oscillation is 2,
the period of cos t.
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Example 3 – Solution cont’d

The speed is | v | = 4 | sin t |, which is greatest when

| sin t | = 1, that is, when cos t = 0.

So the object moves fastest as it passes through its

equilibrium position (s = 0). Its speed is 0 when sin t = 0,
that is, at the high and low points.

The acceleration a = –4 cos t = 0

when s = 0. It has greatest
magnitude at the high and low
points. See the graphs in Figure 6.

Figure 6
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